Assuming for the moment that you have 10 acres of grass to cut and that you are running a business, then I would say that your budget of 2 grand is totally unrealistic, especially in southern Ontario.
Essentially, there are two levels of grass cutting equipment available for you. The first type can be found at Lowe's, Home Depot, Canadian Tire and Sears. All of those products are designed for Joe
Average Homeowner who has a one acre or smaller property. He will put perhaps 50 hours of use per year on his lawn tractor. These types of machines will perhaps last 10 years or so until there is a
failure in the hydrostatic trans-axle. The cost of replacing that trans-axle is equal to or more than the current market value of the used tractor, depending up age and overall condition. I have read many
thread written by Cub Cadet, John Deere and owners of similar mowers, complaining about their unit failing in year 5 or 6 or 7.
The second type of equipment used to be the revered garden tractor but today, only a few of those are being built. Ingersoll, John Deere and Simplicity still build true garden tractors. There are a few
wannabe brands that claim their product is a garden tractor but the reality is that they are not. Sears and Dixon come to mind. True garden tractors use Top Tier engines such as the Vanguard from
Briggs & Stratton, Kohler Command Pro, Kawasaki and Honda GX Series. The tractors use much higher quality parts and heavier gauge steel to construct the frames, mower decks and other parts.
Go and look at the SPECIFICATIONS sheet for all of the lawn tractors in the 2 K price bracket and take note of the shipping weight or the actual weight either with or without the deck attached. Then look
up the X500 and X700 Series John Deere GT's and the top models from Simplicity and compare the weights. The LT's rarely come close to 500 LBS but the true garden tractors are 800 LBS and up.
But the true GT's are 3 to 6 times the price of the entry level LT's.
If you are wanting something to just cut grass, then a conventional tractor is not the ideal. Instead, you should be looking at ZTR' or Zero Turn Radius machines because one of those will cut your seat
time by nearly 50 percent. Once again, ZTR's come in Homeowner quality and in Commercial quality and are priced accordingly. There are quite a few brands to choose from in the commercial sector.
Deere and Kubota are both popular with the parks departments of local towns. Take a look at what the Town of Niagara uses. They do a lot of lawn maintenance. Go and talk to the mechanics at their
repair garage if you really want to know what is good and what to stay away from.
Businesses who cut grass for a living will use brands such as Exmark, Bad Boy, Scag, Bobcat or Dixie Chopper.... just to name a few. But you need to get a realistic budget of 8 to 10 grand to buy
something that will last you and not be in need of repair. The old adage .... you get what you pay for...... is never more true than when you are choosing a grass cutting machine. If you buy cheap, you will
regret it.
If you absolutely need a tractor, then I suggest that you look at the sub-CUT segment and there are plenty to choose from. Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Case, New Holland, Massey, Mahindra, Yanmar, Ventrac
and Shibauru.... just to name a few. But these will cost you even more than a commercial ZTR will but you can do much more with one..
It is a mistake to focus on the brand of the engine. You need to look at your property and find the machine that FITS the needs of your property. Someone has to pilot whatever grass cutter you buy and
whether that person is you or it is someone else, there is a time factor involved. Time is money. If you have employees, do you want to pay them for 5 hours to cut the grass or 8 hours? In the growing
season, this might be twice per week. If it is your butt in the seat, isn't there better, more productive ways of spending your time?
Yes...... you can buy used units but....... how many TRUE hours are on them? Businesses routinely sell their machines once they reach a certain number of hours because they know that they got the best
out of those machines and all that lies ahead are expensive repairs and down-time. You cannot make money with junk. Go and visit local dealers who sell commercial equipment. Invite them to see your
property and advise you on which machine will work best for your situation. You live in the Niagara region where there is plenty of agriculture going on so there should be no shortage of dealers. The link
to Duke's is below. He is in Burlington and sells Walker and Exmark. Good luck in your search.
Dukes